Library board to revisit Monday closings

A controversial decision to close the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library on Mondays will be reconsidered at a special board meeting Aug. 2, the board’s chairman said Friday.

Richard Thomas said he decided to call the meeting due to feedback from the public and local municipal councils, including Owen Sound.

“There’s always a possibility that things will change,” he said in an interview.

“I said at the time that there was nobody sitting around that table that was happy with the decision that was made. But it was a situation where a decision of some sort had to be made.”

Thomas said while he called the meeting to reconsider the decision, a motion to “reconsider or rescind” will have to come from another board member.

In the meantime, Thomas said he plans to meet with Owen Sound city council Monday. A meeting with Georgian Bluffs council is planned for Aug. 15.

The library board voted 5-3 on June 28 to close the library on Mondays starting Aug. 13 to give staff more time to do administrative work.

The board had already approved opening the library half an hour later, at 9:30 a.m. Monday to Saturday, and closing four hours earlier on Fridays, at 5 p.m.

The library serves residents of Owen Sound, Chatsworth, Georgian Bluffs and the former Sydenham Township portion of Meaford. The library board is independently responsible for the library’s management and operation.

Owen Sound council passed a motion this month asking the board to reconsider its decision. It also asked for a meeting with library board members and staff. Georgian Bluffs council called for a similar meeting.

The closure decision has also prompted Owen Sound resident Josh Richardson to plan a public read-in protest for Aug. 6.

Thomas, who opposed the Monday closure recommendation, has said staffing levels at the library are at the same level they were in 1973. Staff are always busy, he said, and have little time to complete administrative work.

Chief librarian Cindy Weir has said there is not enough staff at the library to be “open the number of hours that we are.” A consultant’s report has called for the immediate hiring of four additional employees.

Owen Sound Mayor Deb Haswell said the Monday closure has generated “a lot of concern” from the public.

Council wants more information on why it has to happen, she said.

Most puzzling, she said, is that library staff will still be in the building on Mondays but the doors will be locked. It will mean no savings to the library budget.

“Closing and not seeing the savings is a pretty hard pill for folks to swallow and frankly I don’t understand it,” she said.